A Bone to Pick
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: The Halliwells learn that something may be wrong with a teenaged Chris. Something that cannot be healed. Will they be able to get him the help he needs or are they destined to lose him a second time?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or any of its characters**

**A Bone to Pick**

Piper was in the middle of making dinner when she heard the back door open. Her husband, Leo came in with their two sons, Wyatt and Chris.

"Hey, Mom," Wyatt said.

"Hey. How was the game?" Piper asked. Her husband and sons had been at Chris' soccer game. She normally would've gone with them, but unfortunately, she'd had to deal with a problem at the restaurant she owned.

"It was great. Chris tore the other team apart," Leo said before ruffling his younger son's hair.

"Oh, and I missed it? I'm so sorry, Chris," Piper said.

"It's okay, Mom. You don't have to keep apologizing. I understand," Chris assured her. She'd been apologizing ever since she'd called to tell him she couldn't make it. She must have said it five times on the phone.

"Besides, I got the whole thing on tape," Leo said as he held up the camera.

"Good. I will definitely be watching that later. Now go get ready for dinner. It'll be ready soon," Piper said.

"What are we having?" Wyatt asked.

"We're having what I decided to cook. Now go," Piper ordered.

The two teenagers immediately started out of the room.

Piper couldn't help but notice that Chris had a bit of a limp as he walked. "Peanut, what's wrong with your leg?"

Chris groaned. "Mom, are you ever going to stop calling me that? I'm thirteen for crying out loud."

"No, I'm not. I don't care how old you are, you will always be my little peanut. Now what's wrong with your leg? Why are you limping?" Piper asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just a little sore. I think I wore it out at the game today," Chris said.

"I told him I'd heal it, but he wouldn't let me," Wyatt said.

"Well, what am I, a wimp? I can handle a little soreness. It's not like somebody chopped it off or anything," Chris said.

"Okay, there will be no talk of chopped limbs in the kitchen. You sure you're okay, Chris? Do you want some Tylenol?" Piper asked.

"No, it's fine, Mom. I just need to rest it. I'm sure I'll be good as new tomorrow," Chris said. His mom worried too much sometimes. He could only imagine how much worse it would be if he told her he'd had this pain off and on for the last month or so. But it wasn't a big deal, he was sure. He had been riding himself hard lately. They'd lost a couple of players and the guys were counting on him.

"Alright, well put some ice on it after dinner and let us know if it gets any worse," Piper instructed.

Chris thought about arguing about the ice, but thought better of it. He knew it wouldn't go over well with his mother. "I will."

"Okay, go get cleaned up," she said.

Chris nodded and headed out of the room. Wyatt was right behind him.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Wyatt was woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of groaning. He opened his eyes to see Chris on his bed holding his leg. He slowly sat up a bit. "Chris? Are you okay?"

Chris looked over at his brother. "Oh, sorry, Wy. I didn't mean to wake you."

Wyatt got up from bed and went over to his brother. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just my leg. It's still kind of sore."

Wyatt bent down a little to get a look at his brother's leg. "Holy crap, Chris. It's huge. Your leg is swollen. Did you ice it like Mom said?" Wyatt asked.

"Of course I did. I had it on for like an hour. It just still hurts. God, it's never been this bad," Chris said. His leg had been hurting for a while, but not so bad that it kept him from sleeping until tonight.

"Okay, I'm going to heal it," Wyatt said before holding his hands out.

Chris swatted his brother's hand away. "No, it's fine. I'll just take Tylenol like Mom said."

"Chris, we have school tomorrow. You have to get some sleep. Just let me heal it and we'll be done with it," Wyatt said. He wished his brother would just stop being stubborn for once and let him help him. It was late and they both needed to get some rest.

Chris looked at his brother and sighed. "Okay, just make it quick."

Wyatt once again brought his hands out and held them over Chris' leg. Seconds later, a golden glow emitted from his hands. A few seconds later though, it stopped. If felt as though something was stopping him from completely healing his brother.

Chris breathed a sigh of relief when the pain finally went away. "Thanks, Wy. Now I can get some sleep."

"Wait, you're healed?" Wyatt asked surprised.

"Yeah, why?" Chris asked in confusion.

"Well, it just felt like something was blocking me. Like I was stopped before I could heal you all the way," Wyatt explained. He did not like that feeling either. It gave him a horrible feeling in the pit in his stomach.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, man. I feel great. Your powers must be on the frits or something. It's either that or your imagining it. Actually, you're probably imagining it because like I said, I feel great. Now I'm going to get some sleep. See you in the morning," Chris said before laying back down and closing his eyes.

Wyatt reluctantly went back to his bed. He couldn't sleep though. His thoughts were still on what had just happened. He couldn't understand why his powers were telling him that Chris wasn't completely healed. Was it his powers or was something wrong with Chris?

Wyatt immediately shook those thoughts away. That couldn't be it. If his powers were messed up, Chris wouldn't have healed and Chris was obviously okay. He'd felt better right away. No, Chris had to be right. It must have been all in his head.

Wyatt turned to his side and tried to get some sleep and forget about what had just happened. Yet somehow he couldn't.


	2. Chapter 2

A few weeks later, Piper and her sisters were sitting in lawn chairs in the backward of the manor watching their kids. The girls were playing with a jump rope near the side of the house and the boys were playing a baseball game with Leo, Henry, and Coop.

"I can't believe how bit they're all getting," Phoebe said as she looked at her kids and her nieces and nephews.

"I know. Melinda's ten and my boys are full blown teenagers. If feels like just yesterday that I was holding all of them in my arms," Piper said.

Paige laughed. "At the same time, it probably feels like just yesterday when Chris was twenty-two and telling you what to do."

"Haha," Piper said sarcastically.

Just then, they saw Leo pitch a ball to Chris and Chris knock it clear across the yard with his back. "Yeah, go Chris!" Phoebe cheered.

Chris immediately started running around the makeshift bases. All of a sudden though, his leg gave out and he fell to the ground. He landed halfway on top of it and heard a pop, followed by severe pain. "Ahhh!"

Leo immediately made it to Chris' side, followed next by piper and then by the others. "Hey, you okay, buddy."

"Ahh! My leg, I think I broke it," Chris said in pain.

"That's impossible. That kind of fail wouldn't have caused a break. Here, let's try to move it," Henry said as he went to help Chris move his leg from its current position.

Chris screamed as soon as his uncle touched his leg, causing Henry to immediately retract his hand.

"Okay, everybody, out of the way. Let the healer do her job," Paige said as she pushed past everybody. She placed her hands over Chris' leg, causing a golden glow to come out of her hands almost immediately.

Chris instantly began to feel better. "Thanks, Aunt Paige."

Paige frowned as she lowered her hands. Something wasn't right. Chris said he was healed, but at the end, she'd felt something cut off her power. It was her job wasn't done, but the power would no longer work.

Piper noticed her sister's worried look, but she didn't want the kids to notice. "Okay, I think that's enough excitement for one day. How about you guys go inside and either watch TV or play a game quietly? Chris, can you stand okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Mom," Chris said as he stood up with his father's help. "See, good as new."

"Alright, go on inside," Piper told the children once more.

They all immediately did as their mother slash aunt told them.

Piper turned to Paige as soon as all the kids were inside. "Okay, what's up? What's bugging you?"

"Something was off when I was healing Chris," Paige said.

"Off how? You healed him. He's fine," Piper said.

"That's just the thing. My power is telling me that I didn't heal him. That' something's still wrong with him," Paige said concerned.

"Okay, that doesn't make any sense. He had a broken leg and now his leg is no longer broken. What else would there be to heal?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, something won't let me heal it. It's like something's blocking it," Paige tried to explain.

"You think something's wrong with your powers?" Coop asked.

Paige sighed and shook her head to indicate that she didn't know. Honestly, she hoped it was just her powers. She hoped something wasn't actually wrong with Chris.

"I don't think it's Paige's powers," Henry said.

"What do you mean? Why do you say that?" Piper asked.

"His leg should not have broken like that," Henry said.

"He's right. That fall should not have caused a broken leg in a thirteen-year-old," Leo said. He was a medic when he was alive. He was no expert, but he knew basic medicine. Something wasn't right.

"Okay, so what are we saying here? Are we saying that something is wrong with my son?" Piper asked in fear.

"Okay, no one has said that," Phoebe told her sister to try to reassure her a little. "But maybe checking the book wouldn't be such a bad idea."

"You think a demon attacked him? What kind of demon would attack a kid's leg?" Coop asked.

"We don't know what this is? We don't know the full effects of what, if anything is being done to him. All we know is that it is affecting Paige's power. What else but a demon could do that?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, there are other things that can block a whitelighter's power, but the demon angle is most likely. I think Phoebe's right," Leo said. He too was extremely concerned for his son. The others were right, something clearly wasn't right, and it was scaring the hell out of him. It scared him when any of his kids were hurt or worse, but especially Chris. It was Chris Leo was most afraid of losing. Not because he loved his other children any less, but because he'd lost Chris once before and couldn't bear the thought of it happening again.

"Okay, but what about Chris? What if he gets worse?" Piper asked afraid.

"I think it's already gotten worse. This isn't the first time that leg has bothered him. Remember a few weeks ago when he was limping?" Leo asked.

"After his soccer game. Yeah, I remember. You think this has been going on for that long?" Piper asked.

"I don't know. I don't know anything for sure. But you're right. We have to get Chris help before this gets any worse than it already has. I think we should take Chris to the hospital," Leo said. No matter what else, he knew something was wrong with his son. They needed to get him help fast.

"But if it's a demon, they're not going to be able to tell us what's wrong," Piper argued. It was pretty clear that this was magical. A hospital wouldn't be able to help Chris.

"I know, but if something happens, they might be able treat him, even if just to prolong the effects of whatever is happening," Leo said.

"Okay, game plan," Phoebe said taking charge. Normally this would be Piper's call, but she was obviously not in the right frame of mind to do that right now. "Piper, you and Leo take Chris to the hospital. Focus on him. Coop and I will check the book and Paige you should check with the Elders and see if they know anything."

"I keep the other kids busy," Henry said.

"Do that especially with Wyatt. He's going to be worried," Piper said.

Henry nodded.

"I'll get Chris ready and we'll go," Leo said before heading into the house with an extremely worried look on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

Chris was not happy. He was sitting with his parents in the waiting room of the ER waiting to be seen by a doctor. He hated hospitals, especially when he felt there was no reason to be there, like he did now. "I still don't see why we had to come here. Aunt Paige already healed me."

"We just want to make sure everything's okay, buddy. That break happened way too easily. Bones should be stronger than that," Leo said.

"But it's healed," Chris reminded his father.

Before any of them could say anything else, new voice called out. "Christopher Halliwell."

"Let's go," Piper said before standing up and leading her husband and son towards the nurse that called for them.

They were taken down the hall to an exam room. "Go ahead and have a seat on the table, Christopher," the nurse said.

"It's Chris," he told her before hopping up on the table.

"My apologies, Chris. The doctor will be in with you shortly," the nurse said before walking out of the room.

Piper and Leo made themselves comfortable in a couple of chairs by the door.

"I still say this is pointless," Chris grumbled.

"Chris, knock it off. I know you don't like hospitals, but sometimes you have to do things you don't want to," Piper said sternly. Her tolerance was at an all-time low right now, as it usually was when she was worried for someone she loved.

Chris sighed, but said nothing. He knew better than to antagonize his mother when she'd reached her limit, so he would keep his mouth shut. He still didn't like being there though.

Leo leaned forward and smiled at Chris. "Hey. If you're right, you can say 'I told you so'."

Chris returned the smile slightly. "I will too. I'll lord it over you guys for all-time."

Just then the doctor came in. "Hi, I'm Doctor Michaels."

"Leo Wyatt and this is my wife Piper Halliwell," Leo said as he shook the man's hand.

Pleasure to meet you both," the doctor said after shaking both their hands. He then went over to Chris. "And you must be Chris. I hear you've been having leg trouble."

"My leg is fine now," Chris said.

"But it was hurting you quite a bit, right? How long has that been going on?" the doctor asked.

"He mentioned leg pain a few weeks ago after a soccer game. He was limping and everything. And today, there was an incident while playing a friendly baseball game," Piper explained. She didn't tell him about the break obviously. She couldn't exactly say it wasn't broken anymore because her sister healed it with magical powers.

"How about before the soccer game, Chris? Did you experience any pain in that area before that?" Doctor Michaels asked.

"What? You never told us that," Piper said with narrowed eyes.

"Because it wasn't a big deal, Mom. I didn't want to worry you with something as stupid as an achy leg," Chris said.

"Where has the pain been?" the doctor asked.

Chris pointed to the area just below his knee.

Doctor Michael's picked up his leg a little and squeezed gently.

"Ahh!" Chris yelled. That had hurt. Not as much as the break had, but it still hurt.

"That hurt?" the doctor asked.

Chris nodded.

Piper began to get even more worried than she already was. Paige had just healed Chris' leg and it was already hurting him again.

"Has your leg gotten swollen at all, Chris?" the doctor asked.

"Yeah, kind of," Chris said as he was reminded of the night Wyatt healed him.

"Okay, how much are you keeping from us?" Piper asked unhappily. She was not thrilled by her son keeping information about his health from her.

"That's it, Mom, I swear," Chris said.

"Okay, why don't you guys explain the incident today?" the doctor said.

"Well, we were playing baseball. He was running and it seemed like his leg just gave out. He fell and he appeared to be in a lot of pain," Leo explained.

"Does that sound accurate to you, Chris?" he asked.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, it started to hurt and then I fell. Then the pain got worse. It felt almost broken for a minute."

"Okay, we're going to run some tests," Doctor Michaels said.

"What kind of tests?" Leo asked.

"Some x-rays and an MRI for starters. I wanna see the inside of his leg. Let's see if we can't pinpoint what's going on. I don't want any of you to get too concerned though. Right now, all we're looking for is a possible answer."

Piper and Leo both nodded.

"Okay, a nurse will be in soon to take Chris down for the tests. I'll see you folks soon," the doctor said before leaving.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Paige was standing on top of the Golden Gate Bridge waiting. She'd just called an Elder and she was waiting for a response.

Soon, the Elder, Sandra appeared before her. "Hello, Paige. We've been expecting you."

"You've been expecting me? Why? Do you know what is going on with Chris? Why can't I heal him all the way? Did a demon do something to him?" Paige asked rapidly.

"I am afraid that we don't what is ailing young Christopher, but we do know that something is," Sandra said sadly.

Paige felt her stomach drop. They'd already suspected that something was wrong with Chris, but it was different than healing from an Elder that it was fact. "It has to be a demon, right? Why else would it affect my power?"

"No, Paige. Chris' ailment, whatever it is, is mortal. That is why we cannot allow you to heal anything but his symptoms," Sandra said.

"Wait, _you_ can't allow? You're the ones stopping me from healing Chris? Why? He needs help!" Paige said angrily. She couldn't believe it. She'd thought Evil was keeping her from helping Chris when really it was those that were supposed to be on the side of Good.

"Paige, a whitelighter's healing touch was ever only meant to heal wounds caused by the supernatural. Now we've looked the other way with you three and allowed you to heal such things as broken limbs and cuts, but this is not a simple cut or broken limb. What is happening now needs to take its natural course, just as it does with everyone else," Sandra explained.

"Are you kidding me? You choose now to enforce the rules for healing? When my nephew may be seriously ill?!" Paige asked angrily.

"I understand you are upset, but some things cannot be interfered with. This is one of those things. Christopher is suffering from a mortal ailment. We must allow it to be cured the mortal way," she said.

"And what if it can't. Are you really going to let Chris die?" Paige asked. No she wouldn't accept that. She would not let her nephew die because the Elders decided what should be healed and what shouldn't.

"Whatever happens will be Christopher's destiny. Whatever it is, you'll have to accept it. I'm truly sorry," Sandra said before orbing out and leaving a shocked and angry Paige behind.


	4. Chapter 4

Phoebe was furiously looking through the Book of Shadows for answers while Coop watched from the couch. She'd looked through it nearly three times so far and still found nothing. Finally she slammed it shut. "Damn it!"

"Honey, come down," Coop said in a gentle voice.

"No, I can't calm down, Coop. There is something wrong with my nephew and I can't even find the demon responsible for it," Phoebe said in frustration.

"You will. I know you. You won't give up until you find a way to help Chris," Coop said faithfully.

"We can't lose him, not again," Phoebe said. She couldn't help but be brought to the past when Future Chris was in a similar predicament. True, this Chris hadn't been stabbed, but he was facing an ailment that apparently couldn't be healed. It just brought back too many memories.

"Is this about the other Chris?" Coop asked. Phoebe had explained the whole thing about Chris' past life coming to help them save Wyatt and their future and how he had died for it.

Just then orbs filled the room and Paige materialized.

"Oh, thank God. I hope you have something because we have come up empty. What did the Elders say?" Phoebe asked her younger sister.

Paige stared at her sister sadly. "They don't know what is wrong with Chris, but they know that something is. Something that has nothing to do with demons."

"What? But then why can't you heal him?" Phoebe asked. It didn't make any sense. If Chris' health problems weren't demonic then Paige should've been able to heal him. So why couldn't she?

Phoebe scowled. "Because the Elders are a bunch of bastards who have chosen now to enforce the rules! I can't heal him because they won't let me!"

"What? What do you mean they won't let you?" Phoebe asked.

"I think 'they won't let me' speaks for itself. They said that because it's a mortal illness, Chris has to heal the mortal way. Then they had the nerve to say that whatever happens is Chris' destiny," Paige said irritably.

"Are you kidding me?! They choose now when Chris could be in serious trouble?!" Phoebe asked angrily. She couldn't believe this. Her nephew was in trouble and the Elders wouldn't do anything to help him.

"I know, trust me. Look, right now, I think we should go to the hospital and support Piper and Leo. They need us," Paige said.

"Go. Henry and I will stay with the kids," Coop said.

Phoebe nodded and went over to Paige and took her hand. She soon felt the familiar feeling of being orbed away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Piper was pacing the floor of the Emergency Room while Leo sat in a chair nearby. Both parents were very worried right now. They knew something was wrong with their son, but neither knew what or how to help him.

"God, would they just hurry up already?" Piper asked as she continued to pace.

"Tests take time, Piper. They'll get things done as fast as they can," Leo said.

"Well, it's not like they're going to find anything. At least I don't think they will," Piper said. What was happening to Chris was magical, so it most likely wouldn't be anything that medical tests could pick up.

Just then, Leo saw Phoebe and Paige headed their way. He immediately stood up. "Piper, your sisters."

Piper stopped and turned around to see her two younger sisters coming her way. She and Leo immediately went to meet them. "Hey. What'd you find out? What kind of… demon are we looking for?" She said the last part in a low voice so that no one around would hear her.

"We're not?" Paige said.

"What?" Leo asked in confusion.

"We're not looking for a demon. A demon didn't do this," Paige said.

Piper frowned at her sister. "What? Then how in the hell…?"

"Mrs. Halliwell? Mr. Wyatt?"

They turned to see Chris' doctor coming their way. They all immediately went over to him. "Doctor Michaels, what's going on?"

The doctor glanced over at Phoebe and Paige and then back at Piper and Leo.

"It's okay. These are Piper's sisters. Whatever you have to say about Chris, you can say to them too," Leo told him.

"Okay, well, Chris is back in the exam room. We've got his x-rays and the MRI scans back," Doctor Michael's said.

"And?" Piper asked.

"We found a mass just below Chris' knee," he said.

"A mass? You mean like a tumor?" Phoebe asked.

The blood drained from Piper and Leo's faces as soon as they heard the 'T' word. The only thing either of them could think was that their boy could have cancer. Neither one of them wanted to think about that as a possibility.

"Well, we don't know that yet. A mass doesn't always mean a tumor. Right now, all it is, is a mass," the doctor said.

"Okay, so then what now. I mean, you obviously have to find out what it is," Piper said.

"Yes. I want to biopsy the mass. That way we can find out one way or another what is going on and take proper measures to treat it," Doctor Michael's explained.

"A biopsy. That's what you do to confirm cancer," Piper said shakily. She was getting so scared, worse than she had been a few minutes ago. A few minutes ago, she thought this was demonic. Then Paige and Phoebe had showed up and said it wasn't. Now she was hearing that her little boy might have cancer. That was one thing she couldn't fight. If it were a demon, she could blow it up or throw a potion at it, but she couldn't do that with a mortal disease.

"Well, yes, we do use it to confirm or eliminate cancer a lot, but there are other uses too, such as this one. Look, I'm not saying Chris has cancer," the doctor said.

"But you're not saying he doesn't either," Leo said. He too felt very scared and uneasy. The more he learned, the more afraid he got. His son was sick and it was becoming more and more obvious that he was seriously so.

"No, I'm not. I can't say definitively whether Chris has cancer or not, not without the biopsy."

"How long before you know?" Piper asked.

"We'll analyze the biopsied sample right away. We should know very soon after it's completed," the doctor said.

Piper and Leo looked at each other and nodded. Then Piper spoke. "Do it."


End file.
